About Holmen’s sustainability reporting

The basis for the sustainability information presented is the sustainability questions identified as essential in view of the business that Holmen conducts, and that it requires an obligatory permit under environmental legislation in the countries in which the Group operates.

Holmen reports on its work on sustainability in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative's GRI G4 guidelines at Core level. The sustainability reporting concerns the 2016 financial year and, as in previous years, encompasses the Holmen Group and constitutes pages 7, 12-13, 24-31, 37 and 80-81 in the Holmen annual report 2016, the GRI index below and the pages stated in the GRI index on Holmen's website.

The reporting is published annually, as part of the annual report, and the previous sustainability report published in March 2016 concerned the 2015 financial year. At the end of the first half of 2016, the paper mill in Madrid was sold; no other changes took place during the year in Holmen's organisation, corporate structure, ownership or supply chain. The sustainability reporting has been subject to review by Holmen's auditors; see the auditors' report.

For questions regarding the contents of the reporting, please contact:

Holmen's materiality analysis in accordance with GRI G4

Prior to the transition to GRI G4, Holmen carried out a materiality analysis with the aim of confirming existing and identifying new, material sustainability aspects. The materiality analysis was carried out on the basis of the GRI method, with four steps: Identification, Prioritisation, Validation and Review.

Identification

Material sustainability aspects were identified in three steps:

Identification of material aspects based on Holmen's internal perspective through analysis of the company's strategic areas of focus, financial goals, the Code of Conduct, sustainability goals and areas of focus for Human Resources.

Identification of material aspects based on an external perspective grounded in legislation, guidelines and external undertakings that Holmen has, along with requirements in the new EU directive on sustainability reporting and the Ten Principles of the Global Compact.

Identification of material aspects based on the stakeholder perspective grounded in the dialogues Holmen has with various stakeholders such as employees, owners, customers, supervisory authorities, neighbours and financial analysts.

For each material aspect, whether influence is exerted within or outside the organisation was also identified.

Prioritisation

Each aspect was then prioritised based on whether it is important in terms of describing Holmen's financial, environmental and social influence, as well as/or whether stakeholders have stated that the aspect is important and whether it can influence the decisions of stakeholders or their view of Holmen.

Validation

As a final step in the materiality analysis, the results were validated by representatives from the functions at Holmen that own one of the sustainability aspects and by representatives of Group management, who also adopted the materiality analysis as a correct summary of Holmen's material aspects from a sustainability perspective.

Review

During 2016 the materiality analysis was subject to internal review in order to ensure its validity. For this reason, some minor adjustments have been made to the summary presented below. Holmen also has the ambition of cross-checking the content of the materiality analysis with various stakeholder groups in the future. This also aims to ensure its validity.

Summary of Holmen's material sustainability aspects

Aspect

Material withinthe organisation

Material outside the organisation

Profitability (own)

X

Capital structure (own)

X

Dividend (own)

X

Economic Performance

X

Materials

X

Energy

X

Water

X

Emissions

X

X

Effluents and Waste

X

X

Products and services(R&D)

X

X

Overall (Environmental protection expenditures and investments)

X

Environmental Grievance Mechanism

X

Occupational Health and Safety

X

X

Training and Education

X

Diversity and Equal Opportunity

X

X

Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining

X

X

Child Labor

X

X

Forced or Compulsory Labor

X

X

Anti-corruption

X

X

Anti-competitive Behaviour

X

Supplier Assessment on the basis of Environment, Labor Practices, Human Rights and Impacts on Society